‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ author Paul Torday dies at 67

LONDON – Publisher Weidenfeld and Nicolson says British novelist Paul Torday, who had a surprise bestseller with his debut novel “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” has died at age 67.

The publisher said Thursday that Torday died at home in Northumberland a day earlier, surrounded by his family. It did not provide a cause of death.

Torday launched his writing career in his late fifties, publishing “Salmon Fishing on the Yemen” in 2007 — the story of a rich sheik who dreams of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to his desert country.

The novel was adapted into a 2011 film starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

He is survived by his wife Penelope, his ex-wife Jane, sons Piers and Nicholas and stepsons Jonathan and Charles.